These chapters display God's desire to bless us! He is the God of the promise, and that is revealed in today's reading through the Abrahamic Covenant. But does this just relate to Abraham or is it for us too? Listen to confirm what you already know--that The Bible has so much to say about how God desires to dwell with us!

Today's Reading: Genesis 12-15

Scripture Referenced: Genesis 12, Portions of Genesis 15

1 Peter 3:6

Melchizedek (Genesis 14) + Hebrews 5, 7

Looking for our free Bible plan and resources? Find them at www.entrustedministries.com/podcast

Do you have a child that is intense, impulsive, and often distracted? Find hope to persevere in the latest episode of the Again podcast on biblical motherhood.

This is the Dwelling Place

from a Trusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Cocks.

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Welcome back to the Book of Genesis.

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We're reading through the Bible

chronologically, and that meant

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we took a little break after

Genesis 11 to read the Book of Job.

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I'd like to give a warning

right from the start.

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This will be an episode that you wouldn't

want to listen to with your kids.

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Today our reading is from Genesis

chapter 12 through 15, God is going

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to issue a promise that has had the

potential to bless every family in

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history including yours and mine.

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I am going to read all of chapter 12 now,

the Lord said to Abram, go from your

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country and your kindred and your father's

house to the land that I will show you

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and I will make of you a great nation

and I will bless you and make your name

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great so that you will be a blessing.

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I will bless those who bless

you and him who dishonors you.

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I will curse and in you all the

families of the Earth shall be blessed.

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So Abram went as the Lord had

told him, and lot went with him.

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Abram was 75 years old when

he departed from Haran.

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And Abram took Sarah, his wife,

and lot his brother's son, and all

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their possessions that they had

gathered and the people that they

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had acquired in Haran, and they set

out to go to the land in Canaan.

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When they came to the land of Canaan,

Abram passed through the land to the

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place of Shaham, to the Oak of Mora.

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At that time, the

Canaanites were in the land.

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Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said

to your offspring, I will give this land.

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So he built there an altar to

the Lord who had appeared to him.

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From there, he moved to the hill

country on the east of Bethel

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and pitched his tent with Bethel

on the west, an AI on the east.

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And there he built an altar to

the Lord and called upon the name

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of the Lord and Abram journeyed

on still going toward the ne.

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Now there was a famine in the land.

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So Abram went down to Egypt

to sojourn there for the

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famine was severe in the land.

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When he was about to enter Egypt,

he said to Sarah, I his wife, I know

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that you are a woman, beautiful in

appearance, and when the Egyptians see

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you, they will say, this is his wife.

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Then they will kill me,

but they will let you live.

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Say you are my sister, that it may go

well with me because of you, and that

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my life may be spared for your sake.

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When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians

saw that the woman was very beautiful,

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and when the princes of Pharaoh saw

her, they praised her to Pharaoh and the

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woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

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And for her sake, he dealt well

with Abram and he had sheep oxen,

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male donkeys, male servants, female

servants, female donkeys, and camels.

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But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh

and his house with great PLAs

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because of Sarah Abram's wife.

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So Pharaoh called Abram and said,

what is this that you have done to me?

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Why did you tell me

that she was your wife?

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Why did you say she is my sister?

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So that I took her for my wife?

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Now then here is your wife.

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Take her and go.

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And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning

him, and they sent him away with

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his wife and all that he had.

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In this chapter, God made a

promise that we will see fulfilled

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throughout the rest of the Bible.

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This is known as the Abrahamic

Covenant, and then in chapter 15,

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he's going to confirm it to Abram.

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He will later renew it to Isaac and to

Jacob, and it is an everlasting covenant.

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There are four key

elements to this promise.

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Number one, there's a seed

that's promised to come.

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Do you remember in the garden

when God promised that Eve's

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seed would crush Satan's head?

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Well, here we have another promise

of that seed, which is Jesus.

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Next, there's a promise of land.

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Third, a promise that the Lord will make

Abraham's descendants into a nation.

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And finally, it's a promise of

divine blessing and protection.

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I think it's difficult for us to grasp

how monumental of a promise this was

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for a man that didn't have a single

child yet saying that all nations

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on Earth will be blessed by him.

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This would be impossible for

anyone except the God of the Bible.

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God had called Abram to leave

everything he had and Abra obeys fully.

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He didn't hedge his bets and leave

things behind in case it didn't work out.

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He took it all.

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And when God appears to

him, he builds an altar.

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He's quick to worship.

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Beest, we think that this promise was

made because of Abram's righteousness.

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God intentionally allowed us to see this

next story right here, so we can see

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that Abram is a sinner just like us.

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This is an unconditional promise and it's

not made because of Abram's righteousness.

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In spite of this incredible

promise, he still thinks he needs

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to protect himself and he puts

his wife in danger because of it.

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But God shows up on her behalf.

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And this is the moment that

I said I wouldn't listen to

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this with children around

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My Moody commentary says that some

translations try to soften this, but

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really in the Hebrew, there's little

debate about what is meant when

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Pharaoh says, I took her as my wife.

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I can remember grieving the first time

I came across this, as I wondered, how

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could the Lord have let this happen?

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And I don't know that we have a hundred

percent clarity about how far the Lord

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allowed it to go before he intervened.

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But we know that even when

Abram failed Sarah, that God

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showed up mightily on her behalf

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I've always found one Peter three, six

as an incredible challenge because it

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tells us that Sarah obeyed Abraham calling

him Lord, and you are her children.

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If you do good and do not fear

anything that is frightening.

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This is a verse I've prayed for

myself many times thinking, God, it's

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really hard to submit in this area.

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But help me to not fear because

I trust in you, that phrase,

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do not fear anything that is

frightening has really stuck with me.

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Isn't it interesting how Pharaoh

has more respect and honor for

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their marriage than Abram did.

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this story is given to us, to clearly

communicate that God's promises are not

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dependent upon our perfection just this

week, another story was brought to light

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of a man who served in public ministry

for decades speaking and writing to

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the church, but he completely failed

when it came to serving his wife.

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These stories can be so disillusioning,

but they serve as continual reminders

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that we look to Jesus alone only Jesus

Christ and his righteousness will stand.

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Fill your life with Godly people

that you respect and look up to,

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but make sure that your hope is only

in the perfection of our savior.

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It can be confusing to see these stories

where someone acts so righteously at

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the beginning and by the end you're in

shock at the sin they're capable of.

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But sometimes I feel that way in my

own heart too, as I'm reading my Bible

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one moment, so captivated by the Lord's

goodness, willing to do anything for

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him, and then I can close it and walk

away and be completely irritated that

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somehow I'm the only one that can

put the shoes on the rack or close

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the pantry door or wipe the counters.

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I'm thankful that we serve a God that's

patient with us in our sanctification.

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Perhaps it's this moral failing that leads

Abram to act honorably in the next chapter

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by allowing lot to select the land first.

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And lot selects the more fertile land.

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but spiritually it's going to

be a stumbling block to him.

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and in chapter 14, we see the

conquest of five Canaanite kings

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by the four kings of the East.

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And if you have time to dig deeper,

the topic of melek is fascinating.

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you'll find a lot in the book of

Hebrews, His name means priest of

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righteousness, and he's the king of

Salem, which means king of peace.

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He was the priest of God most high, which

certainly refers to the God of the Bible.

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And finally, we come to chapter

15 where God ratifies his covenant

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with Abram, and that means he

makes it absolutely official.

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He always knew he was gonna follow

through with his word, but he's

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making sure that Abram knows this

is exactly what he's going to do.

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I love the opening verses.

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The word of the Lord came to

Abram in a vision, fear not Abram.

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I am your shield.

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Your reward shall be very great.

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Those opening words, fear not tell me

that perhaps this was an ongoing struggle

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for Abram, and I can relate to that.

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And then Abram asks him,

what are you gonna give me?

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I don't even have a child.

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One of my servants is gonna be the

heir to everything that I have.

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And God tells him, this

man shall not be your heir.

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Your very own son shall be your heir.

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And then God brought him outside and

said, look toward heaven and number the

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stars if you are able to number them.

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Then he said to him, so

shall your offspring be.

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And scripture tells us, Abram

believed the Lord and it was

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counted to him as righteousness.

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Then God asked him to

bring several animals

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as the sun was going down, a

deep sleep fell upon Abram.

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You might think it's a completely

miserable process to sign the

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amount of paperwork required

to buy a home or a vehicle.

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And if you've done that with

children running around one of

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those tiny offices, it is, but this

is a much more gruesome process.

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This is how an ancient covenant was made.

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It was a promise between the two

parties that they would've cut these

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animals in half so that the pledging

parties could walk between them.

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And what they're saying

is, let this happen to me.

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If I break my word.

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It's a pretty vivid image.

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And it would certainly impress

upon them the seriousness of

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the promise they're making.

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What's so significant here is that

God has Abraham fall asleep while God

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himself walks between the animals.

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This Abrahamic covenant is

completely unconditional.

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God himself will bring it to

fulfillment, and he wasn't going

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to require anything from Abraham.

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The same thing is true for us when

we look to the sacrifice of Jesus.

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All we have to do is acknowledge

that the sacrifice that Jesus made

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on the cross for us is sufficient.

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The Lord doesn't require us to do

anything to earn our salvation.

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And when we hear that, I hope that just

like Abram, we are quick to worship

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Lord, as we look at the life.

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Of Abram, we see such incredible faith

at times and also such fear and failure.

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We thank you that many of your

promises to us are unconditional

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but we're also convicted.

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At our capability to act in

righteousness one moment, and then

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turn around and be impatient or

to be envious of another situation

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or to covet things we don't have.

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I pray that we would do good and

not fear because we trust in you.

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I pray that our children would be

people that would walk in integrity,

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we pray that they would be wholehearted

worshipers of you, that they would

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recognize that you're the God of the

promise and that you long to bless all the

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peoples of the earth and that they would

choose to make you their dwelling place.

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And Jesus mighty name we pray.

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Amen.